4A Semifinal Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! For Classes 5A, 4A and 3A, it’s semifinal week! The playoffs continue and in these classes, we’re down to the final four and each team is one win away from punching their ticket to Edmond. We’re taking a look at the Class 4A semifinals in this post with a complete breakdown on Clinton, Elk City, Poteau and Tuttle as they continue their playoff journeys this week. #1 TUTTLE (12-0) VS #3 POTEAU (11-1) Friday, 7PM @ Jenks HS The Match-Up: In this semifinal, it’s top ranked Tuttle facing off with #3 Poteau in a battle of teams that are basically mirror images of one another. Not only have they been two powerhouses over the last five years in 4A football, but they come in to each game with the same intention. Run the ball and playing dominating defense. So we would suggest not being late to this game as this one is probably not going to last long. Tuttle has been dominant all season and have a perfect record to show for it. Last week in the quarterfinals, the Tigers dethroned the defending champions from Wagoner and look to take that crown for themselves this year. Poteau is hungry to make it back to the championship game and capture their second title in the last three years. The only loss the Pirates suffered this season was in non-district play to Shiloh Christian, an Arkansas powerhouse. Both teams appear to be playing their best football right now and it’s possible that the winner of this game could be the favorite to win it all in Class 4A. POTEAU PLAYER TO WATCH [player_tooltip player_id="207530" first="Todd" last="Mattox"] - 2022 Running Back Poteau’s rushing attack has several players that have had stellar seasons but there’s no doubt that senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="207530" first="Todd" last="Mattox"] has led the Pirates on that side of the ball. In the playoffs, Mattox eclipsed 2,000 yards for the season on the ground and has been absolutely dominant this year. Tuttle can expect a heavy dose of Mattox on Friday night as the Poteau standout has not been contained all season and the Pirates will certainly rely on him to do his thing on Friday night. TUTTLE PLAYER TO WATCH [player_tooltip player_id="206777" first="Canon" last="West"] - 2022 Running Back Just like with Poteau, Tuttle has a few weapons that they can use on the offensive side of the ball but standing out has been senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="206777" first="Canon" last="West"]. The senior standout has been consistent every single week and has given the Tigers a big play threat on the offensive side of the ball. West is coming off a great game against defending champion Wagoner and was not contained by the Bulldogs. Like Poteau, Tuttle will rely on their senior back once again in this semifinal clash. The History: In the last five seasons, Poteau and Tuttle have been two of the better teams in Class 4A and have made winning at least ten games something that’s expected. However, this will be only the second time that these two 4A powerhouses have faced off, with the one other time coming in the 2018 semifinals. Tuttle would beat Poteau 21-11 in that meeting before capturing the 2018 state championship. Poteau would follow that up with a state championship in 2019. Despite only facing off one other time in their respective histories, these two teams are definitely familiar with one another and will be ready for Friday night. EXPERIENCE Poteau: These two teams are two of the more dominant teams in Class 4A football over the last four seasons and their records show it. The Pirates are headed to the semifinal round for the 16th time in school history and it’ll also be their third appearance in the last four seasons. However, once they’ve gotten to the semifinal round, it hasn’t always been pretty as the Pirates are 4-11 all time in this round. Fortunately for the Pirates, the Tigers don’t have the best record in the semifinals either so it’s an even playing field. Tuttle: These teams are almost mirror images of one another when it comes to their success in the playoffs. Tuttle has one more semifinal appearance than Poteau with 17 in school history. And just like with Poteau, they haven’t had much luck in the semifinals either with a 4-12 record. However, on the plus side along with the Pirates, Tuttle is in the semifinal round for the third time in the last four years. Before this recent run of semifinal appearances, the last time they made it to the semifinals was 2008. <hr /> #4 CLINTON (10-1) VS ELK CITY (10-2) Friday, 7PM @ SWOSU The Match-Up: This semifinal features two western Oklahoma teams that are also district foes. Clinton will attempt to end Elk City’s magical run and Elk City is looking to continue being a giant killer in the 4A playoffs. Elk City came into the playoffs at 8-2 and just outside of the top ten. They would proceed to take down #2 Cushing and #5 Grove on the road and now they set their sights on #4 Clinton with a spot in the state championship on the line. Clinton is definitely going to be a tough hurdle for the Elks to overcome as they are playing lights out football, especially recently. And that includes Clinton shutting out the Elks in week nine. Clinton dominated Harrah and Bristow in the first two rounds and they’ll once again rely on their stout defense to shut down Elk City’s rushing attack. Similar to the Poteau-Tuttle semifinal, this game will feature two strong rushing attacks and both defenses will do their best to slow their opponent down. Either Clinton will make it back to the title game or Elk City will take down a third top five team. CLINTON PLAYER TO WATCH [player_tooltip player_id="38610" first="Caden" last="Powell"] - 2022 Quarterback Clinton senior quarterback and linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="38610" first="Caden" last="Powell"] leads a high-powered and balanced rushing offense against Elk City on Friday night. Powell also stars on the defensive side of the ball as a linebacker and has been a critical part to their defensive success this season. Powell has the experience of leading Clinton to a state championship game and he certainly remembers how last year ended and wants to make it back to the title game with a different ending. Standing in the way is district foe Elk City. ELK CITY PLAYER TO WATCH [player_tooltip player_id="38723" first="Daylan" last="Thompson"] - 2022 Running Back Elk City senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="38723" first="Daylan" last="Thompson"] is without a doubt one of the most underrated players in Oklahoma this season. Because Elk City is way out in western Oklahoma, the Elks haven’t gotten as much pub and neither has their star running back. Thompson came into this season as one of the best running backs in Class 4A and he’s backed that up throughout the season. He’s coming off a great game against Grove in the quarterfinals and looks to continue that against Clinton and their stout defense. The History: These two western Oklahoma rivals are very familiar with one another and will face off once again with a spot in the state championship on the line. This will be the 80th time these two teams have faced off as they’ve mainly been district rivals and nearly every meeting has been in the regular season. Friday night will be just the fifth time that they’ve met in the playoffs. However, Clinton has dominated the series. They are 67-12 all time with a 3-1 record in the playoffs. Clinton also shut out Elk City when they faced off just a few weeks ago in week nine of the regular season. All in all, Clinton has won 23 of the last 24 meetings with Elk City. EXPERIENCE Clinton: Out of the four semifinalists, there is no doubt that Clinton is usual suspect when it comes to this part of the year. On Friday night, Clinton will be playing in their 38th semifinal in school history and own a 26-11 record in semifinal games. With a win, they’ll advance to their 27th state championship game and that’s the second most in state history, behind only Jenks. Clinton also made the semifinals a year ago and they beat Blanchard, before losing to Wagoner in the state championship game. Elk City: The Elks are certainly on a magical run and not many expected them to be here. Coming into the playoffs this year, Elk City hadn’t won a playoff game since 2006, let alone make a run to the semifinals. On Friday, Elk City will be appearing in their 7th semifinal in school history. Once they’ve gotten to the semifinals, the Elks have a pretty good record in semifinal games. They are currently 4-2 in the semifinal round but this will also be their first semifinal appearance in nearly two decades.